7th March 2025
The clock is now ticking and the Southern Trust is on the countdown to Go-Live with encompass, the new electronic patient information system.
The Southern along with Western colleagues, will be the final two Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland to introduce the ground-breaking system on Thursday 8 May 2025.
In just two months, every person who receives health and social care in Northern Ireland will have access to specific parts of their own medical records through the My Care digital patient portal.
encompass will replace most current systems and paper records used across services, making it much easier for staff to view and share important information, within and between Trusts, helping to improve safety and quality of care.
Work has been gathering at pace in preparation for this major digital transformation, with countdown clocks now installed at Craigavon Area, Daisy Hill, South Tyrone hospitals and Banbridge Health and Care Centre to help staff to plan for Go-Live.
Marking just 60 days until encompass Go-Live, Southern Trust Acting Chief Executive, Colm McCafferty said: “There has been such a huge effort with staff right across our organisation working meticulously to ensure that we are in a state of readiness for 8th May. From installing the IT infrastructure and equipment, to preparing records for data migration and ensuring that we are all trained, there is a real momentum building.
“This is a very exciting time for the Southern Trust and Northern Ireland, as we approach the last phase of one of the biggest health and social care transformations of our time.
“Staff are absolutely dedicated to working through the final preparations over the next few weeks and are motivated by an end goal in sight. We look forward to realising the benefits of a paper light health and social care system with real-time access to information which ultimately helps to improve service user experience and outcomes.”
